Upcoming Virtual Conferences

Saturday, January 31, 2009, 1 p.m. EST "Emerging African Congregations"
Presenter: Rev. Eric Cherry

Reverend Eric Cherry accompanied UUA President William G. Sinkford on a pilgrimage to six African countries in November 2008. One of the goals of the journey was to meet with old and new colleagues among the Unitarians and Unitarian Universalists of Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria and South Africa. These meetings were exciting, inspiring and humbling; they also helped clarify a variety of opportunities for engagement.

February 18, 2009, 8 p.m. "Update on New Paths to Partnership"
Presenter: Cathy Cordes

Early March Date TBD - "Khasi Hills Update"
Presenter: Dee Idnani

How to Register

To register for a call, send an email to the UUPCC office or call the office 9-5 EST weekdays at 781-275-1710. Include: your name,city/state, the topic/date of the call you will attend. You will be sent an email with the call-in information 2-3 days before the call (please let the office know if you don't have access to email). Feel free to submit questions to the speakers ahead of time to the UUPCC office.

Etiquette for Participants

If you have Call Waiting, disable it before calling in, to prevent annoying beeps. Consult your phone book under Calling Services for the correct sequence to enter before dialing the 888 number: *70, 70# or 1170. This terminates Call Waiting for this phone call only.

Putting your local phone on hold could introduce music into the conference, so when considering the hold function please use *6 instead. Otherwise your hold music will play into the conference call, and make it impossible for the other participants to continue the meeting in your absence Put your phone on MUTE except when speaking. Keep your phone on mute to minimize the amount of background sound on the call. If your phone doesn?t have a mute button, press *6 to set the mute, and press *6 again to speak.

Before asking a question or making a comment, give your name first because many voices are indistinguishable from others on conference calls.

• Avoid speakerphones - they introduce background noise into the call.
• Avoid cellphones - they tend to pick up static.
• If a cellphone is your only option, position yourself in a stationary location where the signal strength is high.

Past Virtual Conferences

We routinely record our Virtual Conferences and post them here after the call. You can download those recordings here and listen to them on your computer.

November 13, 2008: Churches With More Than One Partner
Facilitator: Lee Boeke Burke, UUPCC Outreach Coordinator

Recording: Churches with more than One Partner

October 14, 2008: Philippines Update
Facilitator: Lee Boeke Burke, UUPCC Outreach Coordinator

Recording: Philippines Update

May 20, 2008: Annual UUPCC Leadership Conversation
Facilitators: Rev. Harold Babcock, UUPCC Chair and Cathy Cordes, Executive Director
Cathy and Harold facilitated the Annual UUPCC Leadership Conversation call.

Recording: Annual UUPCC Leadership Conversation

May 5, 2008: Romania's Future
Facilitator: Tom Gallager, author of Modern Romania (2005, New York University)
Tom Gallagher is the chair of Ethnic Conflict and Peace at Bradford University and a long-time observer of Romania and other Balkan countries.

Recording: Romania's Future

April 15, 2008: Microfinance and Partnership
Facilitator: Michael Looft
Michael is a Harvard Divinity Student and UUPCC Intern for 2007/2008. Michael has not only worked in commercial banking and for a federal bank regulator, but he has also done microfinance in Guatemala. He is particularly interested in the ideas of the philosophy and theology of microfinance when it is combined with faith-based groups. He will review the research done during this internship, including developing a program guide that outlines the new UUPCC Partner Village Banking program.

Recording: Microfinance and Partnership

April 3, 2008: What Does Transylvanian Communion and Confirmation Mean to Us?
Facilitator: Rev. Scott Prinster
Scott was the English teacher at the Unitarian theological seminary in Kolozsvár for two years, and has served on the PCC Board and as a district networker. A former physicist, he is currently pursuing his doctorate in Madison, WI on the historical relationship between religion and science in Eastern Europe.

Recording: Transylvanian Communion and Confirmation

March 19, 2008: Khasi Hills Update
Facilitator: Dee Idnani
Dee is a PCC networker for and frequent visitor to the Khasi Hills churches since 2004. Dee will lead the Annual India Update conference call. This call will include information about the early March Khasi Hills community assessment.

Recording: Khasi Hills Update

February 18, 2008: The Economic Impact of EU Accession on the Unitarian Villages in Transylvania
Facilitator: Rev. Naomi King

Recording: EU Impact on Transylvania